An introduction to Nanotechnology

Imagine dissociating a human body into its most fundamental building blocks. We would collect a considerable portion of gases, namely hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen; sizable amounts of carbon an calcium; small fractions of several metals such as iron, magnesium, and zinc; and tiny levels of many other chemical elements. The total cost of these materials would be less than the cost of a good pair of shoes. Are we humans worth so little? Obviously not, mainly because it is the arrangement of these elements and the way they are assembled that allow human beings to eat, talk, and reproduce. In this context, we could ask ourselves: What if we could follow nature and build whatever we want, atom by atom/ molecule by molecule?
As the 21st century unfolds, chemistry-based, bottom-up approaches to the creation of materials with exactly specified atomic and molecular infrastructures have become more feasible while the top-down approach, which has served so well, appears to be approaching some fundamental limits. The aim has been to access the promise that such materials hold of advanced behavior, such as highly improved tensile strength and-or electronic and magnetic properties. As these new approaches to research in materials science have shifted more towards this intrinsic chemical perspective, the filed requires a new name, Nanoscience & Nanotechnology (N&N). It is not, of course, at all new, as biology has constructed all living systems atom by stom, molecule by molecule on the basis of the DNA- based blueprint. At the same time as these new approaches were developing, a totally unexpected family of pure carbon cage molecules with fascinating new properties was discovered, the Fullerenes and their elongated Nanotube (Buckytube) cousins. These material species have properties that should be able to fulfill some of the exciting new developments promised in the 21st century materials science and technology. The structures, which have also become the iconic images of N&N, are now the subject of intense study as they promise to play key roles in almost every possible area of future technology, from medicine and molecular electronics to civil engineering.
In addition to carbon-based structures, the nanoscale behavior of numerous other molecular and extended atomic arrays of materials is being explored with similarly exciting prospects. Ingenious strategies for the creation of molecules with complex, exactly specified structures and functions are being developed-basically to make molecules that do something. In fact, the cross-disciplinary field of N&N, which has resulted from deeper understanding and improved expertise in the application of the chemical principles that underlie condensed-matter physics, molecular biology and materials engineering may be considered "The Frontier Science of the 21st Century". Improvements in materials behavior have already been achieved and if we can solve the problems of fine control over bottom-up chemical self-assembly then a paradigm shift in material technology of all kinds will be achieved, with applications from molecular electronics to civil engineering. Such advances are vital if we are to develop the sustainable technologies that are necessary for survival of the human race.

Definition of Nanotechnology:
The term “Nanotechnology” refers to the study, design, synthesis, manipulation, and application of materials, devices and functional systems by controlling matter at the nanoscale. Nanotechnology, shortened to nanotech, is the study of the control of matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with structures of the size 100 nanometers or smaller in at least one dimension, and involves developing materials and devices within that size. Nanotechnology is very diverse, ranging from extensions of conventional device physics to completely new approaches based upon molecular self-assembly from developing new materials with dimensions on the nanoscale to investigating whether we can directly control matter on the atomic scale. 


Nanotechnology & Construction:
People involved in the construction industry are familiar with the concept of getting raw materials, bringing them together in an organized way and then putting them together into a recognizable form. The finished product is a passive machine that does not change or adapt to the surroundings or the environment. It works and slowly decays as it is used and abused by the environment and the owners of the project. Construction then is definitely not a new science or technology and yet it has undergone great changes over its history. The industry today is the result of a progression in science, technology, process and business.

In the same vein, nanotechnology is neither a new science nor a new technology. It is rather an extension of sciences and technologies that have already been in development for many years and it is the logical progression of the work that has been done to examine the nature of our world at ever smaller and smaller scale.

There is currently an extraordinary amount if interest in Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies, terms now familiar not only to scientists, engineers, architects and product designers but also to the general public. Nanomaterials and nanotechnologies have been developed as a consequence of truly significant recent advances in the material science community. Possibilities for the future are numerous. The technology gives scope of designing structures which are either not possible in reinforced concrete construction or prove to be too expensive or too heavy. Nanotechnology may make it possible to manufacture lighter, stronger, and programmable materials that require less energy to produce than conventional materials, that produce less waste that with conventional manufacturing and promise greater fuel efficiency.